The Value of Social Computing
to Business
Jenny Williams - Ideagarden

The digital user is evolving

People
New preferences in
communication
technology and
relationships

Evolution of the digital user
‘New to Net’ User Communications Services Retail Participation
First activities Email Online banking CDs/Books Photo sharing
Get to know ISP Message services Simple travel Complex travel Video Content generation
Information search Photo sharing Lodge tax eBay Blogs
LOTS of time browsing Reading the News Book concerts Groceries Comments
Classifieds Opinions
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings

Participation rather than presentation

Technology is connecting the world

There is a whole new
generation of
executives coming up
who grew up on the
internet.

Digital Natives

They often know more than their teachers

New media Players

THIS HAS CHANGED HOW CONSUMERS CONNECT

As
as digital
evolves we need
to look at new
ways to engage
them

www.flickr.com/photos/therefore/147730192/
Generation V(irtual)
“not defined by age, gender,
social demographic or
geography…but based on
demonstrated
achievement,
accomplishments and an
increasing preference for
the use of digital media
channels to discover
information”
Gartner 2007

They inhabit this world
Credit: xkcd

We are familiar with the key players

But also many, many more digital environments

This list goes on and on
The long tail of social networks
55% of Australia's internet users
have used social networks in the
last 12 months…
CGM study 2008

And they are not passive, they are engaged
84 percent share content
such as photos, links and
video
Nielsen Online – CGM study 2008

The scales have TIPPED

Internet now dominates share of attention
Internet
TV
internet
TV

We are even seeing the decline in other internet usage

And that tipping point has come through the power of social connection
8% of all visits to internet sites
in Australia were to social
networks and forums
Average time 12 minutes
MySpace was 27 minutes
Facebook was 21 minutes.
Hitwise, 2007

They are your customers and your employees

You can ban social computing from the work place

Or you can embrace it

People feel
at home
in these types
of
environments

Social computing is
replacing other forms of
collaboration

Knowledge Management Social Computing
KM is extra work Social computing is part of my
everyday work
Work is behind closed doors Work is open and transparent
People are afraid to talk openly Anyone can say anything
People directories provide contact Social Networking platforms reflect who
information is doing what with whom
Content is centralised, protected and Content is distributed freely and
controlled uncontrolled
IT chooses the tools I use I have a choice & select my own tools
Knowledge sharing is database centric Knowledge sharing is people centric
Knowledge is forcibly captured just in Knowledge is naturally captured as part
case of my work
Best Practices Stories
David Gurteen

Isn't this just web 2.0 for business?

No, it has the potential
to be much bigger
than that

Value has shifted
ownership experience

Ownership has moved
institutions communities

The nature of CONNECTION is different

For the individual, it empowers one to many connections
David Armano

Participants control the content

Not all participants are the same

STAGE 1 : Consumer
Participants \\read and
explore the posts of
others.
Consumers can be very
active participants in an
online community
…just not yet visible to
others.

STAGE 2: Commentor
These people make comments
on others posts (either on
blogs, or in discussion forums)
They often seek clarification,
agreeing with a statement, or
offer a suggestion or link to
something similar.

STAGE 3: Contributor
Those who have started their
own blogs or who initiate new
threads on discussion forums.
They are confident about putting
forth their own ideas etc.

Commentator
Someone who frequently takes
a 'meta' view of what is going
on, providing a level of
leadership within the
community.
Their contributions will often
draw attention to the 'bigger
picture', making links with
other work - analysing and
synthesising the

Social computing alters communication

New forms of communications
e-mail is, like,
soooo
dead

At first, most people don’t get it but eventually, it becomes addictive

COMMUNITIES

On mass, it is the many to many connections that drive power

Professional networks

Professional networks

Internal communities
People form communities based on shared interests.
These become greenhouses for the developing ideas and the distributing
information

Many major computing firms now have dedicated Social Computing
research groups and wikis to drive product development

People hone ideas better in a collaborative environment

Social Networking can
increase
productivity

•! For software
development, access to
shared solutions and
knowledgeable people
speeds time to delivery.

Better Engagement of employees
Social computing
allows employees
to connect more
easily with one
another and with
the corporation as
a whole.

Social networks, blogs and
wikis create a forum for the
voice of the
employee to be
heard and for their ideas
to be validated

The tools of social computing

Collaborative knowledge

definition
A wiki is a collaborative website
which can be directly edited by
anyone with access to it.

AvenueA Razerfish
•! Built using open source
MediaWiki software

Employee personal pages

•! upload documents,
add tags by clicking
or typing:

Blogs are CONTENT and collaboration

Content is the
container of
knowledge and
information
It is the core driver
of socialization

Public facing blogs: Whats your objective

Corporate blogging

Employee bloging

Facilitated research

RSS
RSS (\"Really Simple Syndication\") is a family of web feeds used to publish
frequently updated content such as blog entries, news headlines or
podcasts.

Amazon RSS

RSS at IMB

PODCASTING
A podcast is a collection of digital media files which
is distributed over the Internet, often using
syndication feeds, for playback on portable media
players and personal computers.

Tapping into passion

Sympathetic alignment

WIDGETS

Trend micro Widgets

a web
application
that
combines
data and
/or
functionality
from more
than one
source

Links
Social Computing drives link strategies

Increase Connect with
reach customers &
employees
right person,
Increase right content
participation Understand
needs
Increase
relevancy

Content as a Service

The bigger picture
email
Podcasts
Mobile
@
Tagging
Widgets
RSS
Social content
Blogs Messenger
WWW
Communities
Wikis
Videos Research
Documents UGC

CONTENT needs to be RECYCLABLE.
Social computing can happen inside the enterprise or outside
Channels can be a web site, web application, mobile device or even
external web platforms such as Facebook or Google applications.

Provide the content that the network needs
A social network Press
release containing
richer snippets of
content, video, tags,
links, rss feeds,
podcasts
Let the audience use it
as they please.

You can’t make ECM
a principle platform of socialcomputing
unless it delivers against the needs of people
within social environments

To do that, we have to start looking at digital in a whole new way

The key to success is participation

Social computing is about
stimulating conversation

Keeping ideas
fresh

Insights enable new types of relationships
Embrace the community
Stimulate conversation
Develop insight
Evolve

It’s no longer about the brand, it’s about the customer…as an individual
Develop a mutually beneficial
relationship
•! Collect helpful data
•! Build technology that
enables two way
communication
•! Enhance your environment
based of feedback

You have to generate some sort of critical mass to have
an effect
…participation drives critical mass

understand the
needs and motivations
of individuals

Ideas need to deliver value to
that individual

Nurture and
leverage
Your
enthusiasts

Connect with them in
Their environments
Not were you want them to be

Remember they will continue to evolve